Secularization & Virtue
On Misunderstanding Christian Formation
Headlines regularly tell of some new study declaring the continued decline of Christianity in America. Such headlines are striking because they seem to confirm what many experience on a regular basis: that religion just doesn’t seem to be as important as it once was. Many Christians, especially those who are older, lament Christianity’s diminishing role in people’s public and private lives. Public opinion surveys are a concise and scientific means of confirming what many already experience as happening in America, while also offering interesting talking points for pastors and religious leaders as they mobilize support and raise funds to further their work.
The problem is that public opinion surveys are generally created for the purposes of social science—and not the needs of the Church—and therefore are unable to describe fully the features of modern secularity. What does it mean to understand the challenge of secularization on Christian terms—beyond the perspectives afforded by national surveys?
Models of Secularization
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Phil Davignon is Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He is the author of Practicing Christians, Practical Atheists: How Cultural Liturgies and Everyday Social Practices Shape the Christian Life (Cascade Books, 2023).
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